How Hitler Came To Power as Chancellor in January of 1933 – History Essay

How Hitler Came To Power as Chancellor in January of 1933 – History Essay
The main reasons Hitler became chancellor in January of 1933 were because the Nazi party used a strict regime of sensitive propaganda, the Nazi spokesperson, Hitler basically told the German people what they wanted to

hear of how Hitler would end the depression which was sweeping over Germany. The Nazi party also gave the German people a scapegoat for the lost war, the Jews. This would help the German people vent their anger towards someone. They promised to destroy Marxism (which is the earliest type of communism), to abolish the treaty of Versailles which caused the downfall of Germany in the first place. The Treaty of Versailles was ruthlessly cruel and unfair towards the Germans, it took away their dignity and pride in their country it reduced them to practically nothing and still the allied forces wanted more from them. France only agreed to the terms of the treaty if they could bleed Germany dry as well. This would receive great support from the German people, who believe the Weimar republic signed it unfairly and were forced into it by the French. This was one of the weaknesses of the Weimar republic which lost them support. The German people believed the Weimar republic was making a mess of everything to do with reparations and the German people turned towards extremist parties, which offered drastic actions which gave more support. The Nazi party seemed well organised which made them stand out, as there would have been no political parties before this point in time, from the other political parties which were not as well organised and professional as the Nazi’s. The Propaganda which was used for the Nazi party was extremely effective in convincing the German people to vote for them, it showed posters of shadowed people all crowing around a big golden sign which says HITLER in block capitals. This would appeal to the German people as this was the age of the depression, people were homeless, unemployed, and starving. These were the people that were showed in this poster. It shows them that Hitler can change all this and help these main people, if they vote for the Nazi party. The German President of the time, Hindenburg, didn’t want to appoint Hitler as Chancellor as he didn’t trust Hitler, so Hindenburg reluctantly appoints Von Schleicher as Chancellor. Von Papen picks up that Von Schleicher is struggling to keep a Reichstag majority, so Von Papen secretly agrees to work with Hitler; Von Papen suggests to Hindenburg that Hitler becomes Chancellor and that he, Von Papen, will be in the cabinet. Von Schleicher naturally refuses as he still doesn’t trust Hitler. Von Schleicher eventually accepts defeat in raising support in the Reichstag. Hindenburg is warned that if he places Von Papen as Chancellor then he may trigger a movement against Hindenburg. So Von Papen suggests and persuades Hindenburg that as long as the numbers of Nazi’s in the Reichstag cabinet are limited, even then with Hitler as chancellor the most extreme Nazi policies could be resisted, he also warns that the alternative is a Nazi revolt and a civil war. Hindenburg is pushed into a corner and has no other option than to appoint Hitler as Chancellor and Von Papen as Vice Chancellor. In my conclusion I believe the propaganda and Hindenburg not having a choice are the 2 main factors in Hitler’s journey to becoming Chancellor. The propaganda gave the German people faith in Hitler and he gave them back their dignity and pride, they recovered everything they lost and now had a strong desire to work harder than before and become stronger than ever. The only way this could all happen is if Hindenburg let Hitler become chancellor, which happened, so then Hitler build up the German people’s confidence and helped them help themselves out of a depression which was crippling the German state.